Andy Burnham promised urgent action on the cost of living; the heat is now on chancellor John Healey to deliver it Alfie Stirling (www.theguardian.com)
A Celebrity Photographer’s Hidden Stash of Polaroids - For two decades, Emily Shur, who shot for glossy magazines in the early two-thousands, has been sitting on a trove of images from a bygone era of fame. (www.newyorker.com)
Arizona Gubernatorial-Primary Map: Live Results - The G.O.P. is picking a nominee to challenge the state’s Democratic incumbent governor, Katie Hobbs, and a Republican congressional race is upended by allegations of sexual impropriety. (www.newyorker.com)
Madonna and the Muppets Made the Case for Love - The World Cup halftime show, which also featured Justin Bieber, BTS, and Shakira, was premised on the idea that music—and celebrity—can serve as a cross-cultural panacea. (www.newyorker.com)
David Rothenberg Arrives at the Punch Line - The ninety-two-year-old theatre producer and prison activist stopped by 54 Below to make a career pivot—standup comedy, dishing on Charles Laughton and Peggy Lee. (www.newyorker.com)
The Man Who Green-Lighted Trump’s Ballroom - Rodney Mims Cook, Jr., a Presidential sidekick from Atlanta and a triumphal-arch enthusiast, is just back from Russia, where he hung out with Putin and Steven Seagal. (www.newyorker.com)
María Corina Machado’s Opposition in Exile - The Venezuelan politician hoped to become her country’s leader with help from the U.S. The Trump Administration had other priorities. (www.newyorker.com)
How Biden Enabled Israel’s Aggression Toward Gaza—and Iran - Top officials from the previous Administration now express regret over their failure to rein in Netanyahu. (www.newyorker.com)
One Man’s Quest to Fix Every Deadly Guardrail - In 2016, Steve Eimers’s daughter died when she hit a defective guardrail. Then he learned that the country was full of them. (www.newyorker.com)
Sometimes It’s O.K. to Let a Language Die - When cultural preservationists cast every extinction as murder, they can ignore speakers’ decisions—and the costs of keeping a fading tongue alive. (www.newyorker.com)
The Divine Red-Carpet Looks of “The Odyssey” Press Tour - Zendaya, with the help of the unerring instincts of her stylist Law Roach, led the way as she and her castmates put on a goddess-themed celebration of high fashion. (www.newyorker.com)
Can Andy Burnham’s Manchesterism Save the U.K.’s Center Left? - With a populist touch, and a focus on affordability and raising up left-behind communities, Britain’s new Prime Minister has drawn comparisons to Zohran Mamdani. (www.newyorker.com)
Il Paradiso Italiano di Julian Schnabel - At his pink palazzo, in the West Village, the artist packs up paintings for a Pace exhibit and discusses his new movie, about Dante—produced by, and guest-starring, Martin Scorsese. (www.newyorker.com)
Florentina Holzinger’s Naked Ambition - The artist’s extreme use of the body has caused viewers to puke, faint, and leave her shows. At the Venice Biennale, though, her vision has made her a star. (www.newyorker.com)
I Give My Kid the Talk - Don’t believe what the other kids have to say; Dad is the one to tell you about the importance of Stephen Sondheim. (www.newyorker.com)
How the Beach Vacation Became a Country-Music Trope - The genre extolls the virtue of staying close to your home town. “Five O’Clock Somewhere” was part of a wave of hits that envisioned an escape to the seaside. (www.newyorker.com)
Eric Bogosian’s Killer Gig - The actor plays a journalist in AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire.” In the story’s latest installment, his beat has become a lot bloodier. (www.newyorker.com)